Audio Visual Insights for Web-Conferencing and Live Streaming

YouTube continues to change the way the world is thinking about on-demand and live video content. Over 2 million people are subscribed to YouTube's "Live Channel" with over 200,000 plus new users subscribing every month! Not bad for a community providing free content! Plus the channel was only started in Jan 2015!

Video on Demand is a $25.30 Billion dollar market which is expected to grow to $61 Billion by 2020 (Market Study Here). Google is obviously on a course to take a significant share of the ad revenue generated from live and on-demand video.

What I find most interesting is YouTube's ability to deliver a superior experience toCable Television. YouTube RED is a new service allowing users to pay only $9.99/month for an ad-free experience. But even beyond ad-free offerings YouTube is adding new features to allow viewers the ability to switch between multiple cameras views of the same broadcast with the click of button. Broadcasters can now send multiple video streams to YouTube and allow their viewers to select the camera feed that is most interesting to them!

(Notice the new Camera Switch Button in the YouTube Player!)

So let’s start with the basics:

Why is this a big deal?

Video On Demand is an exploding industry expected to grow past $61 Billion by 2020 (Market Study Here). YouTube is poised to take full advantage allowing anyone to become a content creator and/or live broadcaster.

2. Why it could revolutionize live broadcast…

Like traditional newspaper distribution, traditional cable TV is in for some serious changes. From OTT content delivered online to live streaming with multiple viewer selected camera choices, more and more viewers will be turning to the internet for traditional television.

3. Simple and powerful feature

Google is a master of balancing powerful technology with ease of use. The new feature fits right into their video player user interface like it was always there!

4. YouTube Live vs Cable TV

Viewer selected video cameras is a feature reserved for NFL sky-boxes at the newest updated football stadiums. YouTube is making the technology free and easy to use…

5. How this is free

YouTube offers free live streaming because it generates ad revenue. Traditional television broadcasts depend on ad revenue and use contracts with premium network distributors to protect their content.

The feature was originally intended for live broadcasters who wanted to feature multiple live cameras in their stream. But I think the feature will be used for many different types of video creation. SpaceX has the best example of a dual-streamed live broadcast where they offer one hosted and one technical broadcast side by side. I would expect sports networks to use a similar approach to “internet streaming” allowing them to cater to various audiences with multiple live views in a single live event.

You can use this feature by preparing two different videos ahead of time and streaming the pre-recorded content OR you can have two live cameras of a single event. Once you are streaming to YouTube your viewers will automatically get the option for switching between cameras. This feature will also be available for the on-demand content effectively linking both live streams (even though they will be recorded and available as separate videos).

NOTE: This feature does not currently work with mobile devices even using their repsective YouTube Apps!

Tune in for an upcoming broadcast every Friday where we dontate to local charities and help spread the use of Live Streaming @ live.ptzoptics.com